WAILUKU, Maui — An appeal challenging Maui County Council candidate Sol Kaho'ohalahala's residency will go forward, under a decision issued Tuesday by the Board of Registration for Maui County, The Maui News reported.

The board's ruling said it had authority to hear the appeal, and denied Kaho'ohalahala's motion to dismiss the case for lack of jurisdiction. It also denied a motion to postpone the hearing until the state Supreme Court rules on the issue.

A hearing on the appeal is set for 11:30 a.m. Friday at Maui Community College, Ka Lama Building, Room 108.

A dozen Lana'i residents filed challenges to Kaho'ohalahala's residency after he finished first in the primary election race for the council's Lana'i seat in September.

Kaho'ohalahala was born and lived for years on Lana'i, but in recent years has lived with his wife in Lahaina while he works on Maui. He was registered to vote in Lahaina for two years until he changed his registration back to Lana'i in July.

Maui County Clerk Roy Hiraga ruled against the challenges earlier this month. He cited state law that says a person can be a resident of a place if they have established a home there and intend to return. He also noted the challenges were not filed before the primary election, as required.

One of the challengers, Lana'i resident Michael "Phoenix" Dupree, appealed Hiraga's decision.

He said Tuesday he was pleased the appeal would move forward.

"It was an educational experience for me," he said. "I'm looking forward to having an opportunity to rebut some of what (Kaho'ohalahala's attorney Lance) Collins said."

Neither Kaho'ohalahala nor Collins could be reached for comment.

Collins had argued the challenges and appeal were attempting to overturn the results of the primary election, something only the state Supreme Court can do. He has separately filed a motion asking the Supreme Court to throw out the challenges.

But Board of Registration Chairman John Henry said it was clear Hiraga's decision interpreted the challenges as being to Kaho'ohalahala's voter registration, and that it was proper for the decision to be appealed to the board.

Henry said the board's ruling would only address whether he has the residency to vote in Lana'i, leaving it up to some other authority to decide if that has implications on his eligibility to run for office.

"If this was about him being a nominee or running for office, we can't handle that," Henry said. "But that's not what the challenge was. The challenge was about him voting on Lana'i."

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